Vegas trip report - Low stakes grinder takes a shot, hangs w/the pros (tl;dr, w/pics)
06-28-2008
, 03:30 AM
06-28-2008
, 10:38 AM
06-28-2008
, 11:22 AM
06-28-2008
, 11:28 AM
06-28-2008
, 11:33 AM
Wednesday, 6/18/08
I start my day by going online. The plans for tonight are all set and it looks like we should get 8-10 people from 2p2. I eat breakfast (just cereal today) and plan not to eat again until 7:00, when I will make the people at the seafood buffet think their $38 price point woefully low. I check the online poker tables and they look softer than usual, so I decide to play for a while. I go down 2 stacks early to a calling station who is running super hot, but I manage to finish a little bit ahead by getting paid on some big hands. Thank goodness for rakeback as well; that makes it a good session. Jason and I take the shuttle to the Rio to give these damn satellites another shot.
GAME #9: I’m at Table #20, which is in a very cold corner of the room, so though I’m energetic and friendly, I’m shivering uncontrollably for the whole thing. I feel well in command of the table and am in good shape down the stretch. In an early hand I get TPTK with AQo and win a sizeable pot when a woman raise-folds for nearly all of her stack on the flop. I shove the small blind with ATo and the big blind calls with A6o, then spikes a six on the flop. Come on, dealer. Luckily a higher 2 pair comes on the board and we split, but that’s a lost chance to make up a very useful chip lead. Later, once we’re all shortish, the small blind, a solid internet player from Oregon, ships it in against my big blind after UTG limps. I have AKs and I have to get it in of course. He has 88 and once again I lose a flip when I need to win one. I’m crippled and all-in blind against a UTG push in the next hand. His AJo flops a jack and my 92o is dead.
I continue to play perfectly and run bad. Ain’t that just the way of things. I’m confident I can continue to play this way, so I join the next tournament, possibly my last chance, immediately.
GAME #10: An early successful c-bet puts me in good shape, but then nothing happens for a while as the blinds get bigger. I end up shoving into the big blind with 82o (my M is around 5 and I need to push any two here obviously) and he calls with AJo. The table laughs at me for pushing with garbage. LOL, bunch of fish, you’re all clearly so smart because I don’t win with a 32.57% chance. Never mind that he folds there about 80% of the time. Anyway, a couple hands later I get my last few chips in with A6o and get beat by an EP caller with 78o. MAN I should be winning these games.
I’m bummed and starving by now, but it’s still over an hour until the 2p2 dinner, so I pull my usual move and go to the Gold Coast to play craps. I lose so quickly – it’s really easy to manufacture bad luck when you’re feeling bad already. It passes the time expensively. I go back to the Rio and wait to meet some people.
I start to feel better when I meet some 2p2ers outside The Village Seafood Buffet and chat with them. I meet Mike (MikeyPatriot), Seth (__seth), and Josh (LB_001). I was expecting more people based on RSVPs, but I’ll take what I can get. They seem like really good guys, and we share stories and backgrounds. Josh is the highest stakes of the 5 of us (including Jason, who comes back from the Rio poker room); Mike is down at my level and Seth is in-between. We’re all from the Midwest, though, except that Mike just moved to Vegas 3 weeks ago. We continue talking until we’re let into the buffet, which is everything I hoped it would be to my hungry body. I gorge on their sushi (not much variety, but high quality considering), and the catch of the day and assorted fish are all delicious. Two stacked plates for me impress the guys.
Toward the end of the meal, Mike notices that his friend John (johnbeans) is eating at this place with the girl that he bailed on us for. We first talk about how it would be funny to mess with him, come up with ideas, and finally decide that it’s pretty much necessary that we actually do these things. First Jason walks by and greets John as if he actually knows him. Next, Seth does something similar but stops and shakes his hand. Finally, armed with knowledge about a party John attended last month where he got drunk and my improv background, I give the real performance: I make myself look a bit more slovenly (food in my teeth, chewing a dessert, and wearing a napkin as a bib which has the added bonus of covering up the 2p2 shirt that would give me away) and plop myself right down at the table with him and his date. I give him a story about how I remember him from the party, and what a coincidence it is seeing him here, how wasted he got throwing up everywhere, and oh yeah I lost my money at craps and maybe you could help me out. The girl looks very uncomfortable and the guys are cracking up at our table. I’m pretty sure John has figured out the game by now, but he can’t be positive and so he can’t really say anything, and I’m really going with it. At least his date doesn’t know what’s happening.
Mission accomplished – I head back to the table and we laugh uproariously at the punishment of violating the “bros before hoes” clause. After a moment Mike waves at John and we all give him a look to be sure he understands and it’s cool. We head to the Penn & Teller Theater feeling pretty elated after a good meal and a good practical joke on (for most of us) a stranger.
Upon arriving at the show, we realize that our seats are in very different parts of the auditorium and so we plan to meet afterwards. Jason and I head up to the center mezzanine – not great seats, but I can see the action fairly well. The show is absolutely amazing, particularly their take on sawing a woman in half and the way they explain how most of the tricks work. In addition to that and the impressively inexplicable “Magic Bullets” closer, they also have a video camera trick with a hilariously elaborate set-up. Teller is probably the ultimate master of sleight of hand. I definitely recommend this show to anybody, but make sure you get good seats.
Two Plus Two dinner attendees. From left: Seth (__seth), Josh (LB_001), Adam (Warteen), Mike (MikeyPatriot), Jason (JDLade). As you can see, at 6’4” I tower over everyone.
After the show Mike says he needs to catch a bus and I offer to teach craps to anyone who wants to learn. I figure it will be me, Seth, and Josh, but our group stays whole after all as we walk over to the Gold Coast. We run really bad at first, as always seems to happen in this game, but they stick with me and get to experience the fun of running good as well. I also finally have somebody to laugh with about this regular there who is best described as a “dough golem”. Everybody finishes up except me as the guys trickle out one by one. Generally we’ve had a great time, but it’s time to call it a night.
My bankroll for Vegas is only about 23% of where it started (Jason claims to be at only 18%, so at least I’m in good company), so I’m bummed about the quick losses, but on the other hand I’ve had a great time and we still have a week to go. It’s almost hard to believe, considering all it feels like I’ve experienced. I always lose when I gamble, though; I’ll be doing better when I go home to Lauren-I-Love. But I’d better get a job. You know, unless I backdoor my way into a WSOP event somehow and win it. Yeah, that’s likely… I point out to Jason that my trip report is already 12 pages long with a week to go. He jokes that I should write a book about the trip, then suddenly turns deadly serious about the idea – I do have a theme, after all: Low stakes grinder hangs with the high stakes pros and takes a shot. For now, it’s bedtime. Can’t lose money when I’m sleeping. I upload some pics and succumb to the darkness.
I start my day by going online. The plans for tonight are all set and it looks like we should get 8-10 people from 2p2. I eat breakfast (just cereal today) and plan not to eat again until 7:00, when I will make the people at the seafood buffet think their $38 price point woefully low. I check the online poker tables and they look softer than usual, so I decide to play for a while. I go down 2 stacks early to a calling station who is running super hot, but I manage to finish a little bit ahead by getting paid on some big hands. Thank goodness for rakeback as well; that makes it a good session. Jason and I take the shuttle to the Rio to give these damn satellites another shot.
GAME #9: I’m at Table #20, which is in a very cold corner of the room, so though I’m energetic and friendly, I’m shivering uncontrollably for the whole thing. I feel well in command of the table and am in good shape down the stretch. In an early hand I get TPTK with AQo and win a sizeable pot when a woman raise-folds for nearly all of her stack on the flop. I shove the small blind with ATo and the big blind calls with A6o, then spikes a six on the flop. Come on, dealer. Luckily a higher 2 pair comes on the board and we split, but that’s a lost chance to make up a very useful chip lead. Later, once we’re all shortish, the small blind, a solid internet player from Oregon, ships it in against my big blind after UTG limps. I have AKs and I have to get it in of course. He has 88 and once again I lose a flip when I need to win one. I’m crippled and all-in blind against a UTG push in the next hand. His AJo flops a jack and my 92o is dead.
I continue to play perfectly and run bad. Ain’t that just the way of things. I’m confident I can continue to play this way, so I join the next tournament, possibly my last chance, immediately.
GAME #10: An early successful c-bet puts me in good shape, but then nothing happens for a while as the blinds get bigger. I end up shoving into the big blind with 82o (my M is around 5 and I need to push any two here obviously) and he calls with AJo. The table laughs at me for pushing with garbage. LOL, bunch of fish, you’re all clearly so smart because I don’t win with a 32.57% chance. Never mind that he folds there about 80% of the time. Anyway, a couple hands later I get my last few chips in with A6o and get beat by an EP caller with 78o. MAN I should be winning these games.
I’m bummed and starving by now, but it’s still over an hour until the 2p2 dinner, so I pull my usual move and go to the Gold Coast to play craps. I lose so quickly – it’s really easy to manufacture bad luck when you’re feeling bad already. It passes the time expensively. I go back to the Rio and wait to meet some people.
I start to feel better when I meet some 2p2ers outside The Village Seafood Buffet and chat with them. I meet Mike (MikeyPatriot), Seth (__seth), and Josh (LB_001). I was expecting more people based on RSVPs, but I’ll take what I can get. They seem like really good guys, and we share stories and backgrounds. Josh is the highest stakes of the 5 of us (including Jason, who comes back from the Rio poker room); Mike is down at my level and Seth is in-between. We’re all from the Midwest, though, except that Mike just moved to Vegas 3 weeks ago. We continue talking until we’re let into the buffet, which is everything I hoped it would be to my hungry body. I gorge on their sushi (not much variety, but high quality considering), and the catch of the day and assorted fish are all delicious. Two stacked plates for me impress the guys.
Toward the end of the meal, Mike notices that his friend John (johnbeans) is eating at this place with the girl that he bailed on us for. We first talk about how it would be funny to mess with him, come up with ideas, and finally decide that it’s pretty much necessary that we actually do these things. First Jason walks by and greets John as if he actually knows him. Next, Seth does something similar but stops and shakes his hand. Finally, armed with knowledge about a party John attended last month where he got drunk and my improv background, I give the real performance: I make myself look a bit more slovenly (food in my teeth, chewing a dessert, and wearing a napkin as a bib which has the added bonus of covering up the 2p2 shirt that would give me away) and plop myself right down at the table with him and his date. I give him a story about how I remember him from the party, and what a coincidence it is seeing him here, how wasted he got throwing up everywhere, and oh yeah I lost my money at craps and maybe you could help me out. The girl looks very uncomfortable and the guys are cracking up at our table. I’m pretty sure John has figured out the game by now, but he can’t be positive and so he can’t really say anything, and I’m really going with it. At least his date doesn’t know what’s happening.
Mission accomplished – I head back to the table and we laugh uproariously at the punishment of violating the “bros before hoes” clause. After a moment Mike waves at John and we all give him a look to be sure he understands and it’s cool. We head to the Penn & Teller Theater feeling pretty elated after a good meal and a good practical joke on (for most of us) a stranger.
Upon arriving at the show, we realize that our seats are in very different parts of the auditorium and so we plan to meet afterwards. Jason and I head up to the center mezzanine – not great seats, but I can see the action fairly well. The show is absolutely amazing, particularly their take on sawing a woman in half and the way they explain how most of the tricks work. In addition to that and the impressively inexplicable “Magic Bullets” closer, they also have a video camera trick with a hilariously elaborate set-up. Teller is probably the ultimate master of sleight of hand. I definitely recommend this show to anybody, but make sure you get good seats.
Two Plus Two dinner attendees. From left: Seth (__seth), Josh (LB_001), Adam (Warteen), Mike (MikeyPatriot), Jason (JDLade). As you can see, at 6’4” I tower over everyone.
After the show Mike says he needs to catch a bus and I offer to teach craps to anyone who wants to learn. I figure it will be me, Seth, and Josh, but our group stays whole after all as we walk over to the Gold Coast. We run really bad at first, as always seems to happen in this game, but they stick with me and get to experience the fun of running good as well. I also finally have somebody to laugh with about this regular there who is best described as a “dough golem”. Everybody finishes up except me as the guys trickle out one by one. Generally we’ve had a great time, but it’s time to call it a night.
My bankroll for Vegas is only about 23% of where it started (Jason claims to be at only 18%, so at least I’m in good company), so I’m bummed about the quick losses, but on the other hand I’ve had a great time and we still have a week to go. It’s almost hard to believe, considering all it feels like I’ve experienced. I always lose when I gamble, though; I’ll be doing better when I go home to Lauren-I-Love. But I’d better get a job. You know, unless I backdoor my way into a WSOP event somehow and win it. Yeah, that’s likely… I point out to Jason that my trip report is already 12 pages long with a week to go. He jokes that I should write a book about the trip, then suddenly turns deadly serious about the idea – I do have a theme, after all: Low stakes grinder hangs with the high stakes pros and takes a shot. For now, it’s bedtime. Can’t lose money when I’m sleeping. I upload some pics and succumb to the darkness.
06-28-2008
, 12:47 PM
06-28-2008
, 01:01 PM
One more for the afternoon crew. I'm heading out after this, will probably post one or two more tonight.
Thursday, 6/19/08
The lack of sleep finally catches up with me and I don’t wake up until after noon. I’m struck with a deep urge to win one of those satellites today. I play online for a while and lose a quarter of my bankroll thanks to bad play, bad luck, and bad bankroll management. Sigh, time to move down again. I get over it and peruse 2p2 for Sam Grizzle stories to share with Jason.
We hang out in the room until 3:00, and then we go catch a taxi to a nearby Bank of America where he can pull out some cash for the rest of the trip. We’re off the Strip now, in a more gritty area where you could probably get stabbed if you wanted to. Jason goes into the bank while I wait in the cab… and wait… and wait… and grab a sandwich and drink at the nearby Carl’s Jr… and then wait some more. I go in to see what’s the matter, and apparently they can’t find Jason’s account.
Jason gets held up at the Bank of America.
This might take a while longer, so we pay the cabbie and send him away, but it’s only another ten minutes or so until they can reach the Michigan branch and fix things up. We walk in the 112 degree heat to the nearby mall to get a cab to the Rio. The trip is uneventful, and we find ourselves taking a shot at satellites once again.
GAME #11: I’ve got a tough young player to my left, Michael, but the rest of the table is nothing special. Early on I have AQs on the button. UTG raises, 2 call, I call, then the big blind shoves it all in. The others fold, and I decide to call. I put down only my second significant suckout in 11 tournaments when I catch a straight to beat his KK – he’s less than pleased. Moments later I bust another player with AK v. AQ. My pushbotting from the big stack works wonders against these guys and I pick up the blinds frequently to stay healthy down the stretch as others are eliminated. We get down to 3-handed; blinds are 150/300 and I have around 2,800 chips in the small blind. The big blind covers me and the shortstacked button pushes. I look down at A8o; I go into the tank but eventually decide to fold here because I’m crushed by the big blind’s calling range and if I go out here I get nothing. The big blind calls with A2o and busts the button’s middle cards, so we’re down to two. I ask for a chop, and get a favorable deal – one of the $500 tourney buy-in chips and half the $120 in cash. I eagerly take it, and guess what? I’M NOT OH-FER ANYMORE!!! Today has finally turned things around.
Meanwhile, Jason is chopping the finals at his table as well, so we’re both winners. High fives all around. He wants dinner, but I decide we should play in another each first.
GAME #12: I’m at a table with a bunch of old men. Early in the game with the blinds at 25/25 and my stack down to about 950 from the original 1000, I get QJo in the cutoff and call a raise to 75 from position. The button reraises and I have to fold when it comes back around to me. That should have been a fold in the first place. A few hands later I get AA and raise over an UTG limper to 125. I get 3 callers including UTG. The flop is 8 8 2 rainbow; I underbet 150. The guys with position on me fold and UTG calls. The turn is an offsuit T and I decide to check behind when he checks to me – for deception more than pot control. I’m not worried about any river cards. The river bricks (a 5 or something) and he bets 300 into me. I think about it and decide to push for my last 275 on top. He calls and flashes Q8s for flopped trips that beat my aces. Expert limp-call UTG sir. GG.
I go back over to check on Jason – his tournament is still in the middle stages and most players are still in. I go over to the Amazon Room to see if anything interesting is happen – sure enough, the $10k Pot Limit Omaha Hi/Lo event is running, and this has attracted all the big names. I stop for a while to watch a table where Doyle Brunson and Phil Hellmuth are sitting next to each other. Phil Ivey is at a nearby table, and I also see Jennifer Harman, Annie Duke, Mike Matusow, and plenty of others. Still no Daniel Negreanu sightings yet, though he was at Galfond’s final table before I got there.
Doyle Brunson and Phil Hellmuth are seated next to each other in the 10k PLO championship.
Hellmuth decides to get a massage to deal with the stress of being him.
Phil Ivey munches on some sushi to sustain him between $600k craps sessions.
Chris Ferguson is playing a final table in another event on the other side of the room, so there are crowds on the rail all over. I go back to check on Jason, and he’s still seven-handed, so I watch for a while. The guy to his right gives me a hard time about standing behind him, so I relocate and watch for a while.
It doesn’t take me long to decide that this guy is a real jerk – he yells at the dealer multiple times and talks aggressively to everyone at the table. Jason makes a really bad button fold with an M of ~2, which I’ll tell him about later, but then gets lucky and doubles through the jerk in a blind battle with K8s. A couple players bust quickly and they get down to 4-handed. Jason gets all-in with A7 of hearts against the big blind’s TT. The flop brings two hearts and I call out loud for a heart, but the ace on the turn will also do to all but bust that guy. Jason has a big stack now and plays it well. The jerk wants a “safety” – everyone gets their buy-in back regardless of results henceforth – but I stringently shake my head and mouth ‘no’ to Jason; there’s no way this guy will get any money if I have influence over it.
It’s about this time that he starts trying to look at Jason’s cards and I silently signal Jason to protect them better, so the jerk asks the dealer to make me leave. I go, but not so far that I can’t see the action. The jerk loses a big pot with JJ against the other good player’s A8o and I smile inwardly as he angrily hits the table. He’s down but not out, though, and doubles through Jason to get healthy again. Shortly thereafter, Jason pushes the button and the jerk calls – Jason’s 66 is busted by the jerk’s 88, unfortunately, and he leaves with nothing. I do my best to comfort him, saying that even though Jason lost the game, he walks away the bigger man because that guy just sucks at life.
Enough negativity, though – it’s time to get dinner, this time in the Miranda Sushi & Noodle Kitchen, and talk about some hands. The place has all-you-can-eat soup and noodles for $15, and it turns out to be very delicious and filling. Let me tell you, Asian chefs know their soups. We talk about hands that happened with both of us and what we’re going to do next, and make a quick video of me eating soup with two spoons (2 spoons 1 soup IMO). I decide to play in another tournament, while Jason wants to hit up the cash games. I start to have stomach problems for about the third time today (seafood buffet backlash, I suppose), and we also run into Josh from last night briefly.
GAME #13: Earlier at the bank, I collected a bunch of candy (with the gooey fruit center) and I’m down to my last piece, which I use as a chip protector this game. Before, I’d been using a quarter, and in previous days it was usually a neat metal skull ring I brought with me (which Jason is using now). I make the semi-serious joke that whoever busts me gets the candy… bounty tournament! This table appears to be a bit tougher than my previous ones in general (which I’ve noticed tends to happen as the day grows late). There’s a crazy young Asian guy across the table from me who at one point raises UTG and shows 64o when everyone folds. I double up early when I overshove a donkbet with A7o on a 9 9 7 flop and the guy to my right calls me with 55. I lose some ground a bit later when I make bad calls on 2 streets OOP with an open-ended straight draw and don’t catch, but I’m still strong in chips. After a few rounds of blinds without cards, I’m not. I shove Q5s on the button against the blinds, whom I both cover, and get called in 2 spots by KQ and K7. I don’t win, but I’ve still got chips. I pick up the blinds to bounce back quickly. Not long after, the Asian guy raises and I push 88 in the big blind. He incorrectly folds, giving me some good chips. Two hands later he is UTG and raises; I decide to overpush with AQs and he calls me with J8s. I am at risk but I hold up (one time!) and double up. On the very next hand I push the button with AJs, and he calls all-in with AKo, but I suck out with a jack on the flop, knocking him out and bringing us down to 4-handed with me as the chip leader. Quickly I push 74o in the small blind and get called by A9o, but river 2 pair to bust him. Next hand I push 89o into the big blind and get called by A2o but flop trips. Hahaha… see what happens when I run good? We’re heads up, me and another good player, but I have a 3 to 1 chip lead. He pushes and I call with KJo. He shows K7s and I’m in great shape to win it all, but of course a 7 has to flop and ruin my fun. At this point I have a 52/48 chip lead, and I set up a deal that is slightly in my favor (since he’s in the big blind next hand and we’re basically flipping a $1620 coin if we play this out). He agrees to the chop – I get one $500 chip and $370 in cash ($250 from his pocket), and he gets two chips. I’m way ahead on the day and quite thrilled.
Jason and I take the last shuttle back to the Strip at 1:00 A.M., do a little shopping to restock essentials, and come back to the room. He gets a bit paranoid about the deal/amounts we have and we try to do the math, but it’s not easy at 3:30 in the morning. Finally I communicate to him that it’s as simple as this: He owned 5/7ths of what I had at the beginning of the day, and he owns 5/7ths of what I have at the end of the day. I was hoping to hold onto all the money and use it to play tomorrow, but he wants to settle up now so he doesn’t have to think about it anymore. It’s the same thing (since he’s buying 5/7ths of me at an essentially unlimited rate, including to an event), but for some reason I get kind of bummed about giving up what seemed to be a good start toward getting an event buy-in. Arguing over it in this state would be counter-productive though, so I give him his portion of the money and head to bed. Tomorrow I plan to use today’s profits to play in 4 tournaments. It may end up being more or less, as it’s now 4:00 and the days have been starting later and later. Pretty soon my sleep schedule might start to resemble Robl’s – in bed at 7 A.M., up at 2:00 P.M., if he gets to bed at all.
Thursday, 6/19/08
The lack of sleep finally catches up with me and I don’t wake up until after noon. I’m struck with a deep urge to win one of those satellites today. I play online for a while and lose a quarter of my bankroll thanks to bad play, bad luck, and bad bankroll management. Sigh, time to move down again. I get over it and peruse 2p2 for Sam Grizzle stories to share with Jason.
We hang out in the room until 3:00, and then we go catch a taxi to a nearby Bank of America where he can pull out some cash for the rest of the trip. We’re off the Strip now, in a more gritty area where you could probably get stabbed if you wanted to. Jason goes into the bank while I wait in the cab… and wait… and wait… and grab a sandwich and drink at the nearby Carl’s Jr… and then wait some more. I go in to see what’s the matter, and apparently they can’t find Jason’s account.
Jason gets held up at the Bank of America.
This might take a while longer, so we pay the cabbie and send him away, but it’s only another ten minutes or so until they can reach the Michigan branch and fix things up. We walk in the 112 degree heat to the nearby mall to get a cab to the Rio. The trip is uneventful, and we find ourselves taking a shot at satellites once again.
GAME #11: I’ve got a tough young player to my left, Michael, but the rest of the table is nothing special. Early on I have AQs on the button. UTG raises, 2 call, I call, then the big blind shoves it all in. The others fold, and I decide to call. I put down only my second significant suckout in 11 tournaments when I catch a straight to beat his KK – he’s less than pleased. Moments later I bust another player with AK v. AQ. My pushbotting from the big stack works wonders against these guys and I pick up the blinds frequently to stay healthy down the stretch as others are eliminated. We get down to 3-handed; blinds are 150/300 and I have around 2,800 chips in the small blind. The big blind covers me and the shortstacked button pushes. I look down at A8o; I go into the tank but eventually decide to fold here because I’m crushed by the big blind’s calling range and if I go out here I get nothing. The big blind calls with A2o and busts the button’s middle cards, so we’re down to two. I ask for a chop, and get a favorable deal – one of the $500 tourney buy-in chips and half the $120 in cash. I eagerly take it, and guess what? I’M NOT OH-FER ANYMORE!!! Today has finally turned things around.
Meanwhile, Jason is chopping the finals at his table as well, so we’re both winners. High fives all around. He wants dinner, but I decide we should play in another each first.
GAME #12: I’m at a table with a bunch of old men. Early in the game with the blinds at 25/25 and my stack down to about 950 from the original 1000, I get QJo in the cutoff and call a raise to 75 from position. The button reraises and I have to fold when it comes back around to me. That should have been a fold in the first place. A few hands later I get AA and raise over an UTG limper to 125. I get 3 callers including UTG. The flop is 8 8 2 rainbow; I underbet 150. The guys with position on me fold and UTG calls. The turn is an offsuit T and I decide to check behind when he checks to me – for deception more than pot control. I’m not worried about any river cards. The river bricks (a 5 or something) and he bets 300 into me. I think about it and decide to push for my last 275 on top. He calls and flashes Q8s for flopped trips that beat my aces. Expert limp-call UTG sir. GG.
I go back over to check on Jason – his tournament is still in the middle stages and most players are still in. I go over to the Amazon Room to see if anything interesting is happen – sure enough, the $10k Pot Limit Omaha Hi/Lo event is running, and this has attracted all the big names. I stop for a while to watch a table where Doyle Brunson and Phil Hellmuth are sitting next to each other. Phil Ivey is at a nearby table, and I also see Jennifer Harman, Annie Duke, Mike Matusow, and plenty of others. Still no Daniel Negreanu sightings yet, though he was at Galfond’s final table before I got there.
Doyle Brunson and Phil Hellmuth are seated next to each other in the 10k PLO championship.
Hellmuth decides to get a massage to deal with the stress of being him.
Phil Ivey munches on some sushi to sustain him between $600k craps sessions.
Chris Ferguson is playing a final table in another event on the other side of the room, so there are crowds on the rail all over. I go back to check on Jason, and he’s still seven-handed, so I watch for a while. The guy to his right gives me a hard time about standing behind him, so I relocate and watch for a while.
It doesn’t take me long to decide that this guy is a real jerk – he yells at the dealer multiple times and talks aggressively to everyone at the table. Jason makes a really bad button fold with an M of ~2, which I’ll tell him about later, but then gets lucky and doubles through the jerk in a blind battle with K8s. A couple players bust quickly and they get down to 4-handed. Jason gets all-in with A7 of hearts against the big blind’s TT. The flop brings two hearts and I call out loud for a heart, but the ace on the turn will also do to all but bust that guy. Jason has a big stack now and plays it well. The jerk wants a “safety” – everyone gets their buy-in back regardless of results henceforth – but I stringently shake my head and mouth ‘no’ to Jason; there’s no way this guy will get any money if I have influence over it.
It’s about this time that he starts trying to look at Jason’s cards and I silently signal Jason to protect them better, so the jerk asks the dealer to make me leave. I go, but not so far that I can’t see the action. The jerk loses a big pot with JJ against the other good player’s A8o and I smile inwardly as he angrily hits the table. He’s down but not out, though, and doubles through Jason to get healthy again. Shortly thereafter, Jason pushes the button and the jerk calls – Jason’s 66 is busted by the jerk’s 88, unfortunately, and he leaves with nothing. I do my best to comfort him, saying that even though Jason lost the game, he walks away the bigger man because that guy just sucks at life.
Enough negativity, though – it’s time to get dinner, this time in the Miranda Sushi & Noodle Kitchen, and talk about some hands. The place has all-you-can-eat soup and noodles for $15, and it turns out to be very delicious and filling. Let me tell you, Asian chefs know their soups. We talk about hands that happened with both of us and what we’re going to do next, and make a quick video of me eating soup with two spoons (2 spoons 1 soup IMO). I decide to play in another tournament, while Jason wants to hit up the cash games. I start to have stomach problems for about the third time today (seafood buffet backlash, I suppose), and we also run into Josh from last night briefly.
GAME #13: Earlier at the bank, I collected a bunch of candy (with the gooey fruit center) and I’m down to my last piece, which I use as a chip protector this game. Before, I’d been using a quarter, and in previous days it was usually a neat metal skull ring I brought with me (which Jason is using now). I make the semi-serious joke that whoever busts me gets the candy… bounty tournament! This table appears to be a bit tougher than my previous ones in general (which I’ve noticed tends to happen as the day grows late). There’s a crazy young Asian guy across the table from me who at one point raises UTG and shows 64o when everyone folds. I double up early when I overshove a donkbet with A7o on a 9 9 7 flop and the guy to my right calls me with 55. I lose some ground a bit later when I make bad calls on 2 streets OOP with an open-ended straight draw and don’t catch, but I’m still strong in chips. After a few rounds of blinds without cards, I’m not. I shove Q5s on the button against the blinds, whom I both cover, and get called in 2 spots by KQ and K7. I don’t win, but I’ve still got chips. I pick up the blinds to bounce back quickly. Not long after, the Asian guy raises and I push 88 in the big blind. He incorrectly folds, giving me some good chips. Two hands later he is UTG and raises; I decide to overpush with AQs and he calls me with J8s. I am at risk but I hold up (one time!) and double up. On the very next hand I push the button with AJs, and he calls all-in with AKo, but I suck out with a jack on the flop, knocking him out and bringing us down to 4-handed with me as the chip leader. Quickly I push 74o in the small blind and get called by A9o, but river 2 pair to bust him. Next hand I push 89o into the big blind and get called by A2o but flop trips. Hahaha… see what happens when I run good? We’re heads up, me and another good player, but I have a 3 to 1 chip lead. He pushes and I call with KJo. He shows K7s and I’m in great shape to win it all, but of course a 7 has to flop and ruin my fun. At this point I have a 52/48 chip lead, and I set up a deal that is slightly in my favor (since he’s in the big blind next hand and we’re basically flipping a $1620 coin if we play this out). He agrees to the chop – I get one $500 chip and $370 in cash ($250 from his pocket), and he gets two chips. I’m way ahead on the day and quite thrilled.
Jason and I take the last shuttle back to the Strip at 1:00 A.M., do a little shopping to restock essentials, and come back to the room. He gets a bit paranoid about the deal/amounts we have and we try to do the math, but it’s not easy at 3:30 in the morning. Finally I communicate to him that it’s as simple as this: He owned 5/7ths of what I had at the beginning of the day, and he owns 5/7ths of what I have at the end of the day. I was hoping to hold onto all the money and use it to play tomorrow, but he wants to settle up now so he doesn’t have to think about it anymore. It’s the same thing (since he’s buying 5/7ths of me at an essentially unlimited rate, including to an event), but for some reason I get kind of bummed about giving up what seemed to be a good start toward getting an event buy-in. Arguing over it in this state would be counter-productive though, so I give him his portion of the money and head to bed. Tomorrow I plan to use today’s profits to play in 4 tournaments. It may end up being more or less, as it’s now 4:00 and the days have been starting later and later. Pretty soon my sleep schedule might start to resemble Robl’s – in bed at 7 A.M., up at 2:00 P.M., if he gets to bed at all.
Last edited by Warteen; 06-28-2008 at 01:13 PM.
Reason: Added pics of pros that I forgot happened in this day.
06-28-2008
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tldr
06-28-2008
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